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For more than 100 years the Society of Professional Journalists has been dedicated to encouraging a climate in which journalism can be practiced more freely and fully, stimulating high standards and ethical behavior in the practice of journalism and perpetuating a free press.

About the Foundation

Since its founding in 1961, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation has promoted excellence and ethics in journalism. The SDX Foundation is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization that supports the educational programs of the Society of Professional Journalists and serves the professional needs of journalists and students pursuing careers in journalism.

Excellence in Journalism 2015Sept 18-20, 2015 – Orlando

Excellence in Journalism is the national journalism conference of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association. Join us in September in Orlando for training, networking, workshops and more!

SPJ News

SPJ Blogs: Newest Posts

Quill Headlines

Journalist's Toolbox

@SPJ_Tweets

Connect with SPJ

SPJ on Facebook

Upcoming Eventsand Deadlines

Become an SPJ Member

For more than 100 years the Society of Professional Journalists has been dedicated to encouraging a climate in which journalism can be practiced more freely and fully, stimulating high standards and ethical behavior in the practice of journalism and perpetuating a free press.

About the Foundation

Since its founding in 1961, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation has promoted excellence and ethics in journalism. The SDX Foundation is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization that supports the educational programs of the Society of Professional Journalists and serves the professional needs of journalists and students pursuing careers in journalism.

Excellence in Journalism 2015Sept 18-20, 2015 – Orlando

Excellence in Journalism is the national journalism conference of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association. Join us in September in Orlando for training, networking, workshops and more!

1988
New York City, the Algonquin Hotel, initial site of the Overseas Press Club, a meeting place for foreign correspondents.

1987
 San Francisco, awarded to the San Francisco Chronicle in honor of the founders Michel H. de Young and Charles de Young. The brothers founded the Daily Dramatic Chronicle which appeared as the Chronicle in 1868.
 Memphis, Tenn., at the Beale Street Baptist Church, in honor of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, editor of the Memphis Free Speech, a Black newspaper.
 New York City, to The Amsterdam News, the oldest Black newspaper in New York City. Edited by James L. Hicks, first Black journalist accredited to cover the Korean War and the United Nations.

1986
 Montpelier, VA., the Virginia estate of James Madison.
 Baltimore, The Sun, in honor of one of the newspapers founders, A. S. Abell.
 Greenville, Ohio, birthplace of Lowell Thomas, radio and television broadcaster
 Mississippi State University, Starkville, Miss., marks the site of the personal and professional papers of William Turner Catledge, late editor of The New York Times.
 New York City, accepted by the Magazine Publishers Association and the American Society of Magazine Editors in honor of Ida Tarbell, muckraking journalist of the turn of the century.

1985
 Washington, D.C., National Press Club, site of many world news events.
 Red Wing, Minn., upon occasion of 100th anniversary of founding of National Newspaper Association.
 Annapolis, Md., at site of Revolutionary War newspaper, Maryland Gazette, published by Jonas Green and his wife, Catherine Hoof Green.

1984
 New York City, Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971), one of Americas best-known photojournalists.
 Kansas City, Mo., the Roy Wilkins site at the Kansas City Call, marked by the Kansas City Professional Chapter in recognition of Roy Wilkins editorship there between 1923 and 1931. The Kansas City Association of Black Journalists was a co-sponsor of the dedication.
 Washington, D.C., United Press International, upon its 75th.anniversary.

1983
New York City, Freedoms Journal, the first Black newspaper published in America.

1979
 Charleston, S.C., Elizabeth Timothy, first woman publisher of an American newspaper.
 Milwaukee, Christopher Latham Sholes, chief inventor of the first practical typewriter.
 Memphis, Tenn., the Christian Index, the second oldest Black religious newspaper in the nation.

1978
 Philadelphia, Cyrus H. K. Curtis, who played a major role in consolidating  Philadelphia newspapers and founded the Ladies Home Journal.
 Toledo, Ohio, David Ross Locke (Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby), who created the Nasby Letters and was a forerunner of the muckrakers.
 Milwaukee, H. V. Kaltenborn, pioneer radio news analyst who was known for his analysis of World War II.

1977
 New York City, The Wall Street Journal.
 Richmond, Va., John Mitchell, one of the Souths leading Black reform journalists and editor of the Richmond Planet.

1976
 Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser, the first successful daily newspaper in the United States and first to publish the Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution.
 Rochester, N.Y., Frederick Douglass, founder in 1847
of the North Star, which with its successor newspapers under Douglasss direction was the leading Black journal in the United States in the antebellum period.
 Canton, Ohio, Donald Ring Mellett, publisher of the Canton Daily News, who was gunned down in front of his home after editorializing against Cantons lawless elements and city officials ineptness.

1975
 Worcester, Mass., Isaiah Thomas, American revolutionary editor, printer, pioneer press historian and co-founder and first president of American Antiquarian Society.
 New York City, The Nation, oldest opinion magazine in the United States.
 Pittsburgh, John Scull, first editor to transport type and a press across the Alleghenies to establish journalism west of the peaks; founder of Pittsburgh Gazette in 1786.

1974
 University of Alabama, Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black, eloquent and effective for the principle of a free and untrammeled press.
 Chicago, the Chicago Defender, for pioneering and continuous leadership and strength in the Black press.
 Gathland State Park, Md., Townsends War Correspondents Arch, a memorial to Civil War correspondents of the North and the South.

1972
 Philadelphia, Sarah Josepha Hale and Godeys Ladys Book, first major womans magazine of mass circulation published from 1830-1882.
 Baraboo, Wis., Ansel N. Kellogg and the first newspaper syndicate developed in 1861.
 Chillicothe, Ohio, the Chillicothe Gazette, oldest newspaper in continuous publication west of the Allegheny Mountains, published since 1800.

1971
 Chicago, the Chicago Daily News and the nations oldest foreign news service operated by a newspaper.
 San Francisco, William Randolph Hearst and the San Francisco Examiner.
 Calhoun, Ga., the Cherokee Phoenix, the Indian-language newspaper of the Cherokee Nation.

1970
 Sacramento, Calif., the Sacramento Union, oldest daily in the West, founded in 1851.
 Madison, Wis., the Wisconsin Press Association, oldest continuing state press association in the nation, existing since the 1830s.
 Des Moines, Iowa, J. N. (Ding) Darling and the Des Moines Register and Tribune. Darlings cartoons catapulted him into national prominence and were a factor in enhancing the great prestige of his newspaper in the first half of the 20th century.

1969
 Hannibal, Mo., 206 Hill Street, boyhood home of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and site of the Hannibal Journal, which started Twain on the way to fame as one of Americas great writers.
 Lexington, Va., Reid Hall, the journalism building on the campus of Washington and Lee University. Here the first formal instruction in journalism in the history of education was initiated by General Robert E. Lee in 1869.
 Atlanta, Henry Woodfin Grady (1850-1889), and the Atlanta Constitution, leaders in creating a more comprehensive, interpretative journalism in the South.

1968
 Gunston Hall, Va., home of George Mason, author of Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776), which gave the first expression of a free press its binding, legal form.
 Boston, James Franklins New England Courant, first newspaper published in the United States without license or authority. Washington, D.C., the Washington Globe (1831-1845), published by Francis Preston Blair and John C. Rives.
 Cincinnati, The Centinel of the North-Western Territory, marking the 175th. anniversary of the first newspaper in the Northwest Territory, published in 1793.

1967
 Philadelphia, and Baltimore, Richard Hoe and Ottmar Mergenthaler, for invention of the rotary press in 1847 and the linotype machine in 1886, respectively.
 New York City and Washington, D.C., the Associated Press. Establishment of the worlds first private, leased wire for news transmission (1875).
 Carmel, Calif., Lincoln Steffans (1866-1936), foremost exponent of journalistic crusaders known as muckrakers, whose exposes of corruption and injustice aroused the public conscience.
 Greencastle, Ind., DePauw University, where Sigma Delta Chi was founded, April 17, 1909.

1966
 Little Rock, Ark., John N. Heiskell and the Arkansas Gazette, oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi.
 New York City, News department, Columbia Broadcasting System. Leadership in founding independent radio news system; distinguished reporting and interpretation exemplified by H. V. Kaltenborn and Edward R. Murrow.
 Washington, D.C., National Intelligencer (1800-1865). Vital force in nations political force and set high standards of journalistic responsibility.

1965
New York City, Adolph S. Ochs, largely responsible for the revival of The New York Times.
Louisville, Ky., Henry Watterson, outstanding editorialist.
Kansas City, Mo., William Rockhill Nelson, founder, Kansas City Star.

1964
Hartford, Conn., the Hartford Courant, oldest newspaper of continuous publication in the United States.

1963
New York City, James Gordon Bennett.

1962
New York City, Horace Greeley, one of the most influential newspaper editors in American history.

1961
Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin, statesman and newspaperman.

1960
Charlottesville, Va., Thomas Jefferson.

1959
Cleveland, Edward Wyllis Scripps and the Cleveland Press. Publisher, founder of the Cleveland Press and chain of newspapers, plus United Press and Newspaper Enterprise Association.

1958
New York City, the trial of John Peter Zenger.

1957
Baltimore, H. L. Mencken, author and newspaperman.

1956
Columbia, Mo., Walter Williams and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. First school of journalism in the nation.

1955
Pittsburgh, Radio Station KDKA. Reported Hardings election in 1920. First radio coverage of a national event.

1954
New York City, Henry J. Raymond, co-founder and the first editor, The New York Times.

1946
San Francisco, Calif., James King of William, founder, editor and publisher, the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin. He fought corruption in municipal government and was assassinated by a politician after many threats on his life.

1945
A contribution was made to Peter Zenger Memorial Fund.

1945
War Interval

1944
War Interval

1943
War Interval

1942
Bennington, Vt., Anthony Haswell, editor and publisher, the Vermont Gazette. He was jailed for fighting the Sedition Act.

The Societys Historic Sites in Journalism program honors the people and places that have played important roles in American journalistic history. The program dates back to 1942.

The sites were originally marked with a bronze marker, and some honorees include: World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle; Benjamin Franklin; William Randolph Hearst; The Associated Press offices in Washington and New York City; Freedoms Journal, the first Black newspaper published in the United States; and Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.

Eligibility

Nominations must possess an accurate significance to the history of journalism.

Nominations

Nomination form should be accompanied by a letter(s) of recommendation that reflects the nominees national historic significance in journalism and why the nominee is deserving of this national recognition. Nominations should also include an indication of the specific location (i.e. building, street address, inside or outside installation) where a bronze plaque would be placed. Nominators should contact the rightful authorities (such as owner of the building) to ensure that they are amenable to placement of a plaque.

Honorees will be announced and honored at a special celebration event determined by the award recipient. A bronze plaque is displayed at the location marking it as a Historic Site in Journalism.

Winner Announcement and Presentation

Honorees will be announced and honored at a special celebration event. A bronze plaque is displayed at the location marking it as a Historic Site in Journalism.